The Atlantic region's title for Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer has gone to Patricia Bishop and Josh Oulton of Port Williams.
The results were announced in Charlottetown Feb. 26.
"We started farming, and continue to farm because we want to provide people with healthy, delicious, excellent food,” says Bishop. “We have the skills, patience and determination to do it.”
This couple appreciates the challenges farming presents and values the independence they have in their work to make decisions, adapt and grow.
“We also feel strongly that we need to farm. We need to have farms for ourselves, our children and for the health of our communities. We farm because it provides for us a way of life that feels great, and generates enough money to provide for our family.
“We love what we do.”
Oulton farms vegetable fields in Canard the couple bought in 2004, while Bishop purchased 23 organic acres in Port Williams in 2007 to pursue her passion for organic farming. In the first year, they knew they needed to get the fertility back up in the soil.
“The soils were quite depleted. Josh worked very hard to improve the soil.”
Both come from long-time Valley farm families. Raised at Noggins Corner Farm in Greenwich, Bishop can trace her family back to the original New England Planters; Oulton’s Hants County grandparents introduced the Charolais breed of beef cow to Nova Scotia.
As a boy knowing he wanted to be a farmer, Oulton set out to build relationships with farmers so he could learn. Throughout his teenage years, he worked on farms and helped his grandfather.
"We need to have farms for ourselves, our children and for the health of our communities. " - Patricia Bishop
Last year, the couple launched a successful community shared agriculture (CSA) program, growing 26 varieties of vegetables for members locally and in Halifax. They distribute 52 weeks a year to 108 families, and to an additional 100 families during the summer months.
The past-president of the Kings County Federation of Agriculture, Bishop holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and an education degree. Oulton also graduated from NSAC and worked as a herdsman. He has a special interest in micro-organisms.
The couple has three children - Izaak, eight; Lily, four; and Frank, two - and they live at Tap Root Farms on Church St.
Bishop is also currently serving on the six-member Nova Scotia Agriculture Land Review Committee, looking at issues surrounding the long-term future of the province's agriculture land base.
Celebrating its 31st year, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ program is an annual competition to recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession and promote the contribution of agriculture.
Open to participants 18 to 39 years of age, making the majority of income from on-farm sources, participants are selected from seven regions across Canada. Two national winners are chosen each year.
